[cooking] Budae Jjigae

Had a hankering for some Budae Jjigae (Army stew) over the weekend. Maangchi's recipe has about a million ingredients but I feel like you can use whatever as long as there's SPAM and other meats, veg, tofu, seasoning paste, ramyeon noodles and american cheese at the end. (I've done baked beans in the past but I don't enjoy the texture in the stew.)

Mine started with:

Clockwise from the top: kielbasa, zucchini, onion, hotdog, scallion, tofu, zucchini, spam, scallion. With a decorative crimini mushroom in the middle, on top of seasoning paste (gochujang, gochugaru, garlic, sesame oil, maple syrup, soy sauce). Add some kind of broth and boil.

I love my shallow covered Le Creuset for this. (I'm really trying to not pine for the Star Wars pots because they're unreasonably expensive but... that Darth Vader dutch oven. Omg.) Anyway, once things get nice and boiling, nestle in a disk of ramyeon noodles (Nongshim for life). Get it all cooked, soaking up the spicy broth, add a slice of government cheese for the last 30 seconds. Throw on sliced serrano peppers to make it fancy and hotter.

This is so good, stick-to-your-ribs winter food. I can't imagine eating this in the summer- all the meat and noodles. But when it's cold out, it's the ultimate Korean comfort food.